Various coatings for controlling the emissivity of a surface have been described. U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,593 to Mar et al. describes a low infrared emissivity paint, which can be utilized as a protective medium against the harmful effects of a nuclear explosion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,883 to Hart describes a low emissivity coating on a transparent substrate of glass or plastic. U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,629 to Krisko et al. describes a low emissivity, soil resistant coating for glass surfaces.
These U.S. Patents describe how to lower the emissivity of a surface. However, they do not describe how to dynamically vary the emissivity, so that, for example, a material or surface has a relatively high emissivity at one time and has a relatively low emissivity at another time.
What is needed is a material for which the emissivity can be controlled to dynamically vary. Also needed is a way of controlling the operational wavelengths over which the emissivity of the material can be controlled, including the infrared wavelengths. The embodiments of the present disclosure answer these and other needs.